Despite earning a share of the Sea View League title with a victory last week, No. 10 San Clemente was not satisfied.
The Tritons made a final case for the Southwest Division’s No. 1 seed with a 56-15 victory over Aliso Niguel in a Sea View League game Friday.
“We didn’t want to share that troply,” Tritons quarterback Sam Darnold said. “Aliso gave us all they had, they planned well against us. We just want to keep taking it one game at a time.”
Darnold led the Tritons offense, completing 18 of 20 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for 39 yards and another score.
Corona del Mar came into this week as the No. 1 team in the Southwest Division. Tritons coach Jaime Ortiz believes his team has a great case to be No. 1 when the brackets are released Sunday.
“I think we have a good body of work,” Ortiz said. “We’re both quality programs. I think we’ve played the best of the best. The committee has a tough decision and we’ll see how it plays out Sunday.”
Brandon Reaves opened the scoring with a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown and Liam Eldridge added a 57-yard interception return for another score as San Clemente took a 21-0 lead just six minutes into the game.
The Wolverines countered with quarterback Nick Chapman, who completed 26 of 42 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns. His 65-yard strike to Blake Sabol put Aliso Niguel on the board in the first quarter.
Darnold threw touchdown passes to Vlad Dzhabiyev and Cole Fotheringham, and Dzhabiyev added a 1-yard TD run as San Clemente led 42-8 at halftime.
Dzhabiyev and Reaves added scores early in the third quarter.
Chapman completed the scoring with a 47-yard pass to Ian Robertson. He also recovered a fumble, while Asanti Panton intercepted Darnold in the second quarter.
“We took our lumps last year and the kids learned from it,“ Ortiz said. “Now here we are with a great shot in the playoffs. It’s a community effort, it takes everyone.“
Contact the writer: npercy@ocregister.com
